133 Molesworth Street
PO Box 5013
Wellington 6140
New Zealand
T+64 4 496 2000
08 July 2025
Erika Whittome
By email: [FYI request #31250 email]
Ref:
H2025068236
Tēnā koe Erika
Response to your request for official information
Thank you for your request under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act) to the Ministry of
Health – Manatū Hauora (the Ministry) on 9 June 2025 for information regarding
the COVID-19
Public Health Response (Vaccinations) Order and exemptions. You requested:
“I understand that the medical exemptions in the COVID-19 Public Health Response
(Vaccinations) Order 2021 changed 11:59pm 7 November 2021 from being issued by a
"suitably qualified health practitioner" in clause 7A to being decided by the Director
General of Health.
1. Would you please share all advice, memos correspondence on how this change for
medical exemptions was promulgated to health providers after 8 Nov 2021?
2. Please share the advice, memos, memoirs, correspondence, reports, guidance etc
given to any health providers on how to treat clause 7A exemptions granted prior to
11:59pm 7 Nov 2021.
3. Please share the 2021 ministerial report or request, memo, minutes etc which were
sent to Crown Law requesting the particular change in this secondary legislation on
medical exemptions.”
The Ministry has been unable to identify any information within the scope of parts 1 and 2 of
your request. Therefore, this part of your request is refused under section 18(g)(i) of the Act as
the information requested is not held by the Ministry and there are no grounds for believing it is
held by another agency subject to the Act.
In relation to part 2 of your request, as outlined in the relevant Ministerial briefing (link below),
when the new process for granting vaccination exemptions was established, all exemptions
granted prior to this time were deemed no longer valid. At the time, health practitioners
continued to have a role under this new process, as medical and health practitioners were
responsible for the initial assessment of whether the individual met the clinical contraindication
criteria. This new process was widely communicated to health providers and the public at this
time. Please see the proactively released Ministerial briefing
www.health.govt.nz/system/files/2022-12/202212418_briefing.pdf.
The Clinical criteria issued under a gazette notice by the Director-General of Health in
November 2021 is attached here:
Specified COVID-19 Vaccination Exemption Criteria - 2021-
go4910- New Zealand Gazette.
Turning to part 3 of your request, details about the decision to make the change is in the
publicly available documentation at the above link. However, content sent to Crown Law for
review is legally privileged and is therefore withheld in full under section 9(2)(h) of the Act. For
your information, advice on amendments to the order mainly went to the Parliamentary Counsel
Of ice for drafting. However, that information is also subject to legal privilege and therefore
withheld in full under section 9(2)(h) of the Act.
I trust this information fulfils your request. If you wish to discuss any aspect of your request with
us, including this decision, please feel free to contact the OIA Services Team on:
[email address].
Under section 28(3) of the Act, you have the right to ask the Ombudsman to review any
decisions made under this request. The Ombudsman may be contacted by email at:
[email address] or by calling 0800 802 602.
Please note that this response, with your personal details removed, may be published on the
Ministry website at:
www.health.govt.nz/about-ministry/information-releases/responses-official-
information-act-requests.
Nāku noa, nā
Clare Possenniskie
Acting Group Manager, Public Health Policy and Regulation
Public Health Agency | Te Pou Hauora Tūmatanui
Page 2 of 2
